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L: Change the World Review
Saw L: Change the World yesterday. I thought it was much better than people had said it was. Of course, I saw it raw and could only understand about 3% of the Japanese (and 80% of the English); maybe this facilitated my enjoyment. The basic storyline was not hard to follow. I think B (not that one) did a better job of translating it based on the visuals than I did attempting to translate the Japanese. (Spoilers follow...) And while I'm sorry I missed the touching commiseration over what it's like to lose your father (figure), I may be glad I missed the explanation of why K was trying to build a brave new world by poisoning everyone.
I thought the acting was better than in the Death Note movie. And this story had what the DN anime has and the DN movie lacks: a real sense of poignancy. My favorite part may well have been before the main plot, directly after the death of Light and Watari, when L has to figure out how to go on (for the short time he has). His sitting alone at his computer, sending out utilitarian emails to a set of colleagues he doesn't seem to have close ties to is very plausible--and very sad. He plugs on with a very L-like practicality, but he looks like part of him's been amputated. There's little mention of Light and a lot of Watari, and that's appropriate for the movieverse. Light and L did not have a close relationship in the movie as they did in the anime (I haven't read the manga), but the loss of Watari is life transforming on every level. Speaking of W, I also liked very much the flashback where L writes his name in the death note. Watari's look of consternation was just the right balance of utter shock but not going to show it. And L's typical lack of affect was very in character as well.
One criticism I've often read of this movie is the L's interactions with Near and Maki were too saccharine. In the main, I disagree. The last few scenes were Very Sentimental, as would be hard to avoid given the circumstances. But the majority of their interactions, I thought, struck a nice balance between cute and appropriately restrained. After all, a lot of L's behaviors are cute, and he is also very restrained, and I think his dynamic with the kids reflected this. I thought L's discomfort with being touched was right on. His look of bafflement whenever one of the kids attempted to cuddle up to him was very L, right down to his gently but firmly disengaging Near's little hand. I also liked Maki's making them adopt good table manners.
Another common criticism is that the English was bad. I think that's unfair. Yes, there were moments when Ken'ichi Matsuyama was hard to understand and moments when he sounded like a computer voice. But there were also moments when he delivered his lines quite fluently and comprehensibly. And he did Italian and French too! Near (Narushi Fukuda) also worked very hard on his "th's." It's not every day you see a little kid acting in a foreign language. In fact, I'm proud of this film for attempting so much multilingualism. That's not easy and I happily give them some suspension of disbelief points for the effort they put into it.
Final thoughts:
Near knows what to do! I have no idea what Near was supposed to do.
Near is a good name. No, it's a silly name. But when your name is "L," I guess the grass must often look greener.
Much in common with MW: contagions on planes, and if you go back far enough, the Americans did it.
I enjoyed it and will likely see it again. Still sad about the death of L in any DN universe. I keep hoping they'll find a way to resurrect him that isn't cheesy. I think it's doable: in a world with Shinigami, you can get away with quite a lot on a plot level. The success of the effort would hinge on character and theme: there would have to be big, painful consequences (like never being able to eat donuts again). Hm...
I thought the acting was better than in the Death Note movie. And this story had what the DN anime has and the DN movie lacks: a real sense of poignancy. My favorite part may well have been before the main plot, directly after the death of Light and Watari, when L has to figure out how to go on (for the short time he has). His sitting alone at his computer, sending out utilitarian emails to a set of colleagues he doesn't seem to have close ties to is very plausible--and very sad. He plugs on with a very L-like practicality, but he looks like part of him's been amputated. There's little mention of Light and a lot of Watari, and that's appropriate for the movieverse. Light and L did not have a close relationship in the movie as they did in the anime (I haven't read the manga), but the loss of Watari is life transforming on every level. Speaking of W, I also liked very much the flashback where L writes his name in the death note. Watari's look of consternation was just the right balance of utter shock but not going to show it. And L's typical lack of affect was very in character as well.
One criticism I've often read of this movie is the L's interactions with Near and Maki were too saccharine. In the main, I disagree. The last few scenes were Very Sentimental, as would be hard to avoid given the circumstances. But the majority of their interactions, I thought, struck a nice balance between cute and appropriately restrained. After all, a lot of L's behaviors are cute, and he is also very restrained, and I think his dynamic with the kids reflected this. I thought L's discomfort with being touched was right on. His look of bafflement whenever one of the kids attempted to cuddle up to him was very L, right down to his gently but firmly disengaging Near's little hand. I also liked Maki's making them adopt good table manners.
Another common criticism is that the English was bad. I think that's unfair. Yes, there were moments when Ken'ichi Matsuyama was hard to understand and moments when he sounded like a computer voice. But there were also moments when he delivered his lines quite fluently and comprehensibly. And he did Italian and French too! Near (Narushi Fukuda) also worked very hard on his "th's." It's not every day you see a little kid acting in a foreign language. In fact, I'm proud of this film for attempting so much multilingualism. That's not easy and I happily give them some suspension of disbelief points for the effort they put into it.
Final thoughts:
Near knows what to do! I have no idea what Near was supposed to do.
Near is a good name. No, it's a silly name. But when your name is "L," I guess the grass must often look greener.
Much in common with MW: contagions on planes, and if you go back far enough, the Americans did it.
I enjoyed it and will likely see it again. Still sad about the death of L in any DN universe. I keep hoping they'll find a way to resurrect him that isn't cheesy. I think it's doable: in a world with Shinigami, you can get away with quite a lot on a plot level. The success of the effort would hinge on character and theme: there would have to be big, painful consequences (like never being able to eat donuts again). Hm...